BT has chosen Cardiff and the surrounding area to build
and test the first portion of its £10bn UK-wide 21st Century
Network (21CN).
The next-generation network will rely on internet protocol
technology and will help BT offer new data and voice services such
as voice over IP and video-on-demand to a wider audience.
BT will migrate around 350,000 customer lines in the Cardiff
area to its 21CN infrastructure, including many served by other
telephone and internet service providers and mobile
operators.
BT said the experience and customer feedback from the first
major 21CN customer migration project will help it finalise plans
to roll out 21CN to customers across the UK by the end of the
decade.
The Cardiff migration of customer lines to the new
infrastructure is expected to begin during the second half of
2006.
More than 50 local phone exchanges will be upgraded and BT will
implement a number of new IT systems to support the new 21CN
infrastructure. Three new metro area nodes or “super exchanges”
will also be built in Cardiff, Swansea and Newport.
Rhodri Morgan, first minister of the Welsh Assembly government,
said: “The end result of the BT investment will transform our
personal and business lives, and help attract high tech industry
and services to Wales.”